Conservative Atheist, sounds like a pretty warped philosophy. Who cares about meaning when you have joy. How do you get joy? Joy comes from within, the knowing that you know the answers to life’s tough questions, and somebody bigger than yourself to lean on, as in Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of your faith.

Today, I stubbed my toe and it hurt so bad I said, “holy shit!” and I wasn’t happy. Soon the pain stopped and I noticed I was becoming happy again.
Later, I took off my house slippers to put on some socks and I saw that my toe was missing. I looked all over for my missing toe and found it not 3 feet from the location of the toe stubbing. I tried to put it back on but it didn’t fit anymore. Then I thought of an outrageous yet obvious solution. The toe was someone elses! So I decided to stub my whole body to make it fit with someone elses misplaced toe. It was at this point, at the conclusion of the body stubbing, that I realized I was a genius. If I close my eyes you ALL go away. It IS all about me.

Conservative Atheist, the proof is in the pudding (or as we say in Christian circles, you will know them by their fruit). As a general rule, most non believers seem to get bitter as they grow old. But most believers seem to have an inner joy, a glow if you will.

Take a look at the folks who’ve been believers in Christ all their lifes. They seem pretty happy and joyful if you ask me. No, they are not perfect, we all have flaws. But compare their demeanor to their counterparts at the opposite end of the belief sprectum.

How many non believers do you know who have that inner glow, that inner joy? (there are exceptions to the rule, but I rarely bump into them…). Joy comes from knowing the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength.

So you may have riches here on earth (i.e., your grain and new wine abound), but I got riches stored up in heaven. My riches are much better than your riches, You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound. Psalms 4:7

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. John 15:11

But my riches smell like bacon broth and are the best of them all! And a brothy stew riddled with sandy chucks of joy! Ha! See, he beckons naught with thine folly of paste. Proverbs 15:12

I’ve closed my eyes and ye goeth away. Like the parry in a hard place, yes under a rock. Hark. the lord pronounced me King and every knee shalt bend towards the earth and their joy will be a success. I smell bacon broth and meek dung fetters. Death to them all, yes a shouting from high places under the gods of grease. Listen! It is all about guest! Hope not he close his eyes and ye all fade! Daniel 9:1-3

I wouldn’t do that. First of all, it’s very impolite to pollute one’s sacred book. Secondly: I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book. If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18-19.

Blue, I saw it and want to respond. I also will respond to Tom’s questions. (It is just me or is this guy a little shrill?) I hope to get to it tonight.

Hey, can you imagine how cool it will be if one of you intellectuals come to the knowledge of the truth? Can you imagine! All you have to do to be used of God is….be available. Now Paul, he was an intellectual, like you folks in this forum. He was trained in the law and Jewish traditions, was a leader in Isreal, and yet he was a Roman citizen. Look at the amazing things God did through this intellectual. If only, one of you could know him, and make yourself available to him…. you’re missing out on the biggest and most satisfying adventure of your life.

...And plagued with doubt, whereas the atheist has a calm, satisfied sense of resting on the bedrock of certainty.

What reasoning came before your, “therefore there is no god”, conclusion.

Was it;

It cannot be known whether there is a god or not, therefore there is no god?

It came in stages. First, I was convinced that the stories told to me about all the miracles that happened in the bible were just that, stories designed to lure people, much like a lure on a hook to catch a fish. I thought perhaps they were written with some kind of moral in mind, though I wasnt quite sure what they were. After all, I was only five or six years old.

Then it naturally followed that if these miracles were just tales fancy, then the idea of a god was, also.

It wasnt until later that I came to believe there was no way to prove or disprove the existance of a deity. However, I reasoned that it was highly likely that there was no god, that being the simplist explanation (Occam’s Razor). Religions of the world—and its been estimated that since the dawn of Man, therve been 100,000 of them—have been erected in order to explain the unexplainable, or as with shamans and the like, as a tool to control others. The Christian and Islamic religions, and variations thereof, likewise can neither be proven or disproven to be true, and serve to fill some need by some people to believe something bigger than themselves, which ‘answers’ some of the questions which science has not.